Except Columbus's discovery of America is usually taught with the connotation that he was the first one to find it.
Which is fine, because as far as most of Europe was concerned, he was. It was only after his discovery that knowledge of the Americas became widespread. As I said, it's a relative term.
If the local cops find the APS meth lab, they could choose to say nothing, for a percentage of the proceeds. That doesn't mean the state police can't come along and discover it later, and start pressing charges. Who do you think would get the credit?
